Violence Against Afghan Civilians Surges Since Talks Began: UN

Date: 23 February 2021 - 22:10

News ID: ۸۷۹۳۴

NEW YORK (Dispatches) – The United Nations has said in a report that civilian casualties in Afghanistan have escalated sharply since talks between the government and the Taliban began last year, and called for a ceasefire as negotiators met for the first time after weeks of inaction.
Afghan civilian casualties totaled 8,820 in 2020, according to the UN mission to Afghanistan’s (UNAMA) annual report released on Tuesday, 15 percent lower than 2019, but the authors noted with alarm a sharp uptick and historically high civilian casualties in the final three months of the year – since the talks began.
The talks – set out in an agreement between the Taliban and the U.S. signed in February last year – began in September, but progress has since slowed and violence risen as uncertainty hovers over whether foreign troops will be pulled out by May as originally planned.
The U.S., under former President Donald Trump, reached an agreement with the Taliban in Doha last February, under which the US and its NATO allies are expected to withdraw all troops in 14 months.
The administration of President Joe Biden, however, has said it would not commit to a full withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan by May.
NATO has also said it will not pull its forces out of Afghanistan "before the time is right.”
Last year "could have been the year of peace in Afghanistan. Instead, thousands of Afghan civilians perished”, said Deborah Lyons, head of UNAMA.
"Parties refusing to consider a ceasefire must recognize the devastating consequences,” said Lyons.
The Taliban on Tuesday responded critically to the report, saying: "The concerns, precise information and accurate details that were shared by us have not been taken into account.”
The UN report said for the first time since records began, deaths and injuries escalated in the final three months of the year from the previous three months.
Casualties for the fourth quarter were up 45 percent compared with the same period in 2019.
After a month-long break over the New Year period, the Kabul government and the Taliban announced that their chief negotiators had returned to talks in the Qatari capital, Doha, on Monday.
Taliban spokesman Mohammad Naeem said that the meeting was focused on the continuation of the talks.
The meeting was held a day after the head of the Afghan High Council for National Reconciliation, Abdullah Abdullah, called on the Taliban to return to the negotiating table and resume talks.
While the Taliban demand a power-sharing deal with Kabul, President Ashraf Ghani said earlier this week that he will not allow "an interim government while I am alive.”